Jewish Ritual

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Create a Jewish ritual, celebration or rite that you will use in your classroom next year. Include when you will use this ritual, celebration or rite, why you will use it and how it connects to your greater vision of teaching and learning in a Jewish dayschool.

Netilat Yadayim
Birthdays - celebrated in the morning meeting?
Morning meeting? Modeh ani?
Rosh Chodesh
Kabalat Shabbat
Mini Torah Project
Mission mitzvah - honoring kids for what they are doing right (writing on postcards that would be sent to the other students, and when all the squares are filled, there's a class party)

Morning Meeting: A ceremony to start the day
I will be using the Morning Meeting as a ceremony to begin the day. One Jewish component of starting the day is by saying the Modeh Ani.

Explanation of prayer:

  • Hebrew: מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתך.
  • Transliteration: Modeh ani lifanecha melech chai v'kayam shehechezarta bi nishmahti b'chemlah, rabah emunatecha.
  • Translation: I offer thanks before you, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.
I want the students to have a basic understanding of the prayer and a strong personal connection. Perhaps I will use the first few weeks to have each morning start with students sharing one thing that they are grateful for that morning.

Teach the children several versions of Modeh Ani.

  • Lesson 1: What am I thankful for? (Morning meeting question)
  • Lesson 2: What are the words of Modeh Ani? What do the words mean?
  • Lesson 3: How can we remember to be thankful? What are we thankful for?
  • Lesson 4: What are some other tunes for Modeh Ani?
  • After these lessons, the students will choose a tune of Modeh Ani that they want to adopt for the morning meeting, adding something of their own, like a "cha" or repeating words.